News

The European Commission is preparing a revision of the animal welfare rules, with a package containing a total of four regulations (welfare on farms, welfare during transport, welfare during slaughter and welfare labelling) expected to be presented in autumn 2023. The Commission has asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to prepare a total of eleven opinions on welfare and possible improvements for each species of livestock. EFSA published its last two opinions last week, focusing on recommendations for the welfare of dairy cows and ducks, geese and quails. On the dairy side, EFSA recommends that the practice of permanent tethering of dairy cows should be discontinued and that each cow should have access to a total indoor space, including lying space, of at least 9 m2. Dairy cows should also have access to pastures with drained and shaded areas, any lameness, mastitis or metabolic disorders should be regularly monitored, brushes should be used in all free-range systems to scrub and maintain body cleanliness. Cows housed in cubicles should, according to EFSA's opinion, be provided with individual space and sufficiently dense bedding. There should be at least one box per cow. As regards the welfare of ducks, geese and quails, EFSA's opinion recommends avoiding cage systems and the rearing systems used during the overfeeding period for foie gras production. According to EFSA, animals should have more space, enriched feed and enclosures of sufficient height, waterfowl should have open water for bathing and egg-laying birds should have nesting sites. According to EFSA, waterfowl need solid floors with bedding and drainage areas around open water. Both opinions will be presented in more detail on 23/05/2023 during a conference in Brussels.
More information is available here, here, here and here.

The rapporteur for the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Spanish MEP Clara Aguilera (S&D), will present the Committee's draft opinion on the sustainable use of pesticides on 23/05/2023. The draft opinion was finalised by the rapporteur at the beginning of May 2023 and does not question the 50% reduction target proposed by the European Commission. In its proposal of last June, the Commission proposes a reduction target of 50% if the intensity of use of more hazardous and standard plant protection chemicals in a Member State is between 70% and 140% of the Union average in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The rapporteur Aguilera does not question either the level of the reduction target or the reference years. She only proposes adjusting the percentages of the average, by putting the countries of Central and Eastern Europe at a disadvantage and Western Europe at an advantage respectively. The rapporteur proposes a reduction target of 50% if the intensity of use of both more hazardous and standard chemical plant protection products in a Member State is between 70% and 170% of the EU average in 2015, 2016 and 2017; however, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and other Central and Eastern European countries use below-average amounts, and the rapporteur's adjustment would not help these countries, but would help countries that use above-average amounts of pesticides. The draft report will be discussed on 23/05/2023 by COMAGRI members, after which amendments can be tabled.

The European Commission is preparing a proposal for the first EU-wide framework for a sustainable food system, expected to be presented in autumn 2023 (September/October). The Commission is expected to present an impact assessment on the implementation of the Sustainable Food System Framework together with the proposal. The draft impact assessment has been submitted for internal review by the European Commission's Quality Control Committee (Board of Control and Regulation) in recent weeks, but the Committee had several negative comments on the draft. These concerned, for example, the linkage of the framework with sectoral and national regulations, as well as the potential impacts of fragmentation of legislation in sustainability. The negative opinion on the draft impact assessment means that the proposal will have to be reviewed and redrafted. The experts in the working group should have one month to do this, with a second opinion due at the end of June 2023. The European Commission has indicated that it still maintains the original deadline for the submission of the draft framework for a sustainable food system (September/October 2023), and that a negative opinion on the impact assessment should not jeopardise the submission by the planned deadline. The European Commission also clarified, in view of the March proposal for rules on green claims on food packaging, that the SCF will take precedence over these rules. Any certification of sustainable production should therefore take precedence over and precede green claims.

On 12/05/2023, the EPP, the largest political group in the European Parliament, adopted a resolution rejecting the adoption of the pesticide reduction and nature restoration bills ahead of the European Parliament elections in the first half of 2024. The resolution has already been criticised by several environmental NGOs, including WWF and Pan Europe, and condemned by the second largest parliamentary group, the S&D. Herbert Dorfmann, an Italian MEP and also the EPP's agriculture coordinator, also said last week that the impression cannot be allowed to be given that the main role of European farmers is to facilitate the ecological transition. According to Dorfmann, it must be clear that European farmers are essential to Europe's food security and to the maintenance of rural areas. But last week, the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, described the adoption of the nature restoration regulation as essential to ensure food security in the EU, the prosperity of farmers and the protection of the wider economy. Member states will have sufficient flexibility to achieve the regulation's objectives, he said, and implementation of the new rules should not lead to a slump in European agricultural production. He therefore did not support any delay in the negotiations on the current proposal.
More information is available here.

On 08/05/2023, the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) approved the Council's general approach for negotiations with Parliament on the draft Regulation on geographical indications (GIs). The Swedish Presidency presented the latest changes made to the text to strengthen the role of producer organisations, increase the number of GIs, strengthen their protection and create one simplified recognition procedure to improve the international perception of the EU GI labelling system. However, the European Commission has been critical of the deletion of the role of the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the implementation of audits or the weakening of sustainability criteria. The European Parliament is expected to vote on its position in late May/June. If the report is approved by the Parliament, the first trialogue will take place under the Swedish Presidency on 07/06/2023.
More information is available here.